The building is a former mansion, the Hôtel de Bonneval, located near the Musée Picasso in Paris’s Marais district. Over the years, portions of the hôtel had been destroyed before it was bought by a developer in the late 1970s who was only able to preserve the façade facing the building’s rear courtyard. “You enter through this grandiose entrance, cross a space with a monumental staircase and a crazy painted ceiling, and then you reach the building’s common areas, which are straight out of the 1970s. The boxy apartments have ceilings that are just a little over eight feet tall, but they have lots of windows. A great plus of contemporary buildings is the ability to have so many more windows,” says Clément Lesnoff-Rocard, founder of the eponymous agency.For the architect, this combination of a building with a very 1970s DNA set amid the Marais’s historic mansions was a dynamic he was excited to explore. He also wanted to showcase the use of concrete and period building elements in a light-filled and airy home, emphasized by the white monochrome design. The owner is a collector of Asian art, which created some other requirements. She wanted a space that could accommodate part of her collection and that had a certain flexibility to the design allowing for different, evolving displays.The minimalist apartment feels like it’s floating in the sky. The living room features a variety of textures in the form of a herringbone parquet floor, a glazed concrete ceiling, white curtains, and a Slow Family sofa upholstered in linen. The Straight Back armchair is a Jean-Michel Frank design from 1932. The sconce is a 1950s vintage design. The architect had a large and mostly open 1,435-square-foot space to work with and two elements that had to be preserved: a load-bearing concrete wall that divides the apartment in two and, to the right of the entrance, a shaft that houses mechanical systems. The central dividing wall is clad in mirrors allowing it to blend into the background, while the mechanical shaft is sculpted into a curved, concave shape. It becomes an architectural object and helps to create the apartment’s gallery-like atmosphere. Above is a concrete ceiling, a graphically powerful element that bears witness to the building’s history.“There’s a very panoramic aspect to this project. The apartment is like a raft on the sea and above it is the sky in the form of this concrete ceiling,” Lesnoff-Rocard says. “To keep with this theme of using different shades of white, we chose a white mineral stain instead of paint to lighten the concrete a little. Paint would have created a solid film and some of the depth of the material would have been lost.”The owner typically is in the apartment by herself or with only her partner, which allowed for a completely open, loft-like design. Each space flows into the next without any need for internal doors. This design also emphasizes the transparent appearance of the mirrored load-bearing wall. In the same vein, the bathroom opens onto the bedroom with another loft-like touch that, for the architect, conveys a certain holiday-like atmosphere. “The metaphor of sea and sky continues with the dining room carpet, which is like a kind of island set on this ocean and, suspended above the table, there’s a light fixture in the shape of a moonset on a beach.” Behind it, a curtain evokes a wall of rain.In the dining room, around an Italian glass and brass table from the 1960s (Marché Paul Bert-Serpette), Norman Cherner’s Side Chairs in walnut from 1958. The Moonset hanging lamp is an original creation by the designer in galvanized steel. On the wall, the painting by André Saraiva and Aki Kuroda was created for the apartment. Objects, decor, and furniture reflect the building’s eclecticism with items from the 1960s, 1970s, and more contemporary pieces, including ones by Diama David, a Pierre Chareau hanging lamp in the kitchen, and timeless sconces from the 1950s. The owner’s collection of artworks includes a painting by André Saraiva in the dining room, another by Aki Kuroda, and a vase by Gaetano Pesce. In the bright white bathroom, a Louis XIV mirror engages with a sleek bathtub. “These small contrasting effects create a form of abstraction that gives rise to a sense of timelessness that sometimes feels almost anachronistic. This apartment might be from the 1970s or it could be from the 2040s. I like to explore that ambiguity.”The color white, in a variety of shades, plays a key role in Lesnoff-Rocard’s design. The home celebrates natural light and also the textures that receive it. The light can be an intense white at the height of the day but at other times, when it is softer, the apartment’s surfaces reveal a richness and diversity of materials, textures, and an almost enveloping sense of subtle continuity. “From the entrance to the living room, we can see many different shades of white: the resin on the parquet, the glazed concrete ceiling, the marble, the curtains, the white of the lacquered radiator behind, and the cabinet on the right. It’s a very rich mix, and it creates a certain form of abstraction, it’s not just a flat white.”From the entrance, concave curves turn a shaft housing the apartment’s mechanical systems into an architectural element. These curves echo those of the low bookcases that run along the mirrored wall. On the left, in the kitchen, the Boule light fixture is by Pierre Chareau. Oak, with a light walnut stain, creates a strong contrast with the white palette, providing a Scandinavian or even Japanese dimension to the design. The wood element greets visitors as soon as they enter the home. It’s a warm note that then leads to a white envelope of concrete, marble, and mirrors. The wood element is picked up again in the bedroom, with its headboard that is paired with a small bedside table by Eileen Gray and an antique portrait. “The wood creates a more residential feeling, because here we’re not in the art gallery portion of the apartment but in the sleeping area, which the owner wanted to be more peaceful and wood provides a reassuring warmth.” The vertical wood panels introduce a Brazilian element that is also echoed in the dining room chairs. Lesnoff-Rocard acknowledges this influence: “The contemporary woodwork, the carpet, the dining room chairs, and all the green plants adorning the large, mirrored bookcase are touches that give a slightly tropical dimension to the overall design.”A full-height marble door frame complements the large, vertically slatted mirrored elements of the living room. “It was very important that this element of the circulation, from one room to the next, be clearly defined with a strip of material. One aspect of this project that interests me are all the floor-to-ceiling elements, and this door frame creates a sense of grandeur, giving the illusion of a marble element that has been pierced by this opening.”A large white sheer curtain elegantly separates the dining room from the mirrored kitchen. The concave angles of the low bookcase along the mirrored wall are another element that adds to the apartment’s play of shapes. They echo the curves found on the sculptural mechanical shaft and the kitchen island (made of Estremoz marble, the same marble used throughout the apartment). This architectural gesture is a regular feature of Lesnoff-Rocard’s projects. “These concave curves provide rich and welcoming touches. In fact, throughout Paris’s Marais district, you’ll see these small concave shapes used on the facades of historic mansions. There is something very inviting about them.”A final note about the floors: Lesnoff-Rocard opted to use new parquet, replacing the old floors that had been poorly laid out. Its small dimensions create a different frame of reference compared to the effect that would have been created with a parquet on a larger scale. The floors feel more textural, and they take on a slightly patinated or aged look, harking back to the earlier era of the original mansion. It’s a way of circling back to the beginning of the story of this home.This minimalist apartment in Paris was originally published in AD France.The elegant elements of the kitchen’s sleek design include chevron patterned floors painted with a white resin, a mirrored credenza and cabinets, a glazed concrete ceiling and, at the center of the room, an Estremoz marble island with concave angles, a signature element of Lesnoff-Rocard designs. From the wood-paneled entrance, a low cabinet with concave corners and a wall of mirrored panels conceal the apartment’s only load-bearing wall. On the living room side, mirrored panels and a low, open bookcase punctuate the wall, which is accented by green plants and picture rails. In the foreground, the Straight Back armchair was designed by Jean-Michel Frank in 1932. Photo: James NelsonIn a corner of the living room, bathed in white light, an India Mahdavi Bishop stool and a corner section of a Bed and Philosophy Slow Family modular sofa. In front of a full-height Estremoz marble door frame, an Adjustable Table by Eileen Gray. To the rear of the photo, a large old-fashioned portrait and, reflected in the mirrored wall, a vintage 1950s sconce. The principal bedroom is beyond the Estremoz marble doorframe and the mirror-paneled wall. The room’s wood paneling provides a sense of calm and warmth to the more intimate sleeping area, even without a door separating it from the rest of the apartment. On the wall, a Mouche sconce by Pierre Chareau from Galerie MCDE. The simplicity of white and walnut-stained wood creates a warm canvas punctuated by a 24 Karat Blau T table lamp from 2022 (Ingo Maurer) and a Mouche wall lamp by Pierre Chareau (Galerie MCDE). On a round bedside table sits an Indian Summer XL vase by Gaetano Pesce. On the wall, above a bathtub with simple lines, a Louis XIV mirror. The bathroom opens on to the bedroom, in an L-shape. On the wall, blown-glass Petite Friture coat hooks.

Take a look.In case you didn't already know, the Nintendo Switch Online service will carry over to the Switch 2 when it launches this June.If you are wondering what the menu UI might look like when it eventually shows up on the new hybrid system, Nintendo's official Japanese website has now shared a sneak peek. As you can see, there'll be a huge "welcome" banner with Mario and the gang on bootup and the usual options lined up down the side.Read the full article on nintendolife.com

ZDNET's key takeaways The Vivobook S 15, Asus' first Copilot+ PC, normally retails for over $1,000, but it's currently on sale at Walmart for $668.It's sleek and lightweight with a gorgeous OLED, 120Hz display, great battery life, and snappy performance.However, because of the nature of Windows on ARM laptops, some apps might still not be optimized. View now at Walmart At Walmart, Asus' Vivobook S 15 is currently marked down to $713, which is roughly $90 off. The configuration on sale features a 3K OLED 120Hz display with an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor and 16GB of RAM.Asus' first Copilot+ PC with the Snapdragon X Elite chip last year was the Vivobook S 15, a sleek and lightweight 15-inch laptop with a gorgeous display and ultra-snappy performance. The chassis' minimalist, all-metal design is lightweight and airy, and it feels more premium than last year's Vivobook S 14. It's only 0.58 inches at its thinnest point, and it weighs just 3.13 pounds, making it particularly well-suited for hybrid or remote workers who want a powerful laptop with a nice display that doesn't weigh a ton. Also: This ultraportable Windows laptop can seriously replace my MacBook Air - and it's even lighterLike all of the new Windows on ARM laptops released last summer, the Vivobook S 15 is fast and responsive with nice battery life, and came with new technology that wasn't fully optimized for all apps at the time of its release, but should be mostly optimized for apps by this point. For the average consumer, however, this is the epitome of a laptop that looks and feels good right out of the box, and it starts with the brilliant 3K OLED display. details View at Walmart With an 89% screen-to-body ratio and ultra-thin bezels, the screen is brilliant and high-contrast, rocking a max 600-nit brightness and 120Hz refresh rate for some silky-smooth and crisp image quality. Also: Why I recommend this budget Lenovo ThinkPad over laptops that cost twice as muchThe display's 16:9 resolution gives it that premium widescreen feel, lending itself well to both watching and editing media, but it might not be for everyone. Most 15-inch laptops come with a 16:10 resolution, which might feel more "natural" for some, but ultimately the distinction is subtle.  Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETWith 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, Asus is able to keep costs close to that $1,000 price point with just the right amount of hardware on this machine. And it feels even better in tandem with the snappy, responsive performance the Snapdragon X Elite processor provides. The Vivobook S 15 features the 12-core, 3.4GHz chip with a 45 TOPS NPU, the same one found in the HP Omnibook X 14, but slightly below the 3.8GHz chip found in the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge. The benchmarking scores in Cinebench reflect that same hierarchy, with numbers above the Omnibook and just below the Galaxy Book4 Edge. In testing the CPU's performance, I got a single-core score of 106 and a multi-core score of 969. In Geekbench, I got a single-core of 2447 and a multi-core of 14384. Remember that these scores were recorded while the device was plugged into power. While on battery, I got scores about 30% lower -- somewhat more of a difference than I expected. This is in comparison to the HP Omnibook X 14, which had a much narrower gap in scores in my testing, something I noted as I was reviewing it. Also: The Lenovo ThinkPad I recommend to most remote works has an impressive spec sheetThis paints a picture of a laptop that has somewhat variable battery life, depending on what you're doing and what kind of mode you have the laptop in. There's no escaping the power this display requires, and if you're someone who typically ignores battery setting profiles and keeps your machine blasting at "Best Performance," you may want to adjust the power modes in either the MyAsus software or in Windows (or both) because you'll see a drastic difference. That being said, the Vivobook S 15's 70Wh battery performance is good, but the user must manage it to maximize its efficiency. During the battery test that ZDNET runs on all laptops, I got about 10 and a half hours before it died, but that number fluctuated in subsequent tests with different power mode settings. Also: How to clear the cache on your Windows 11 PC (and why it makes such a big difference)Optimization is the theme here, and this also extends to its performance. The Windows on ARM architecture provides fantastic up-front performance in ways that are immediately apparent to most users. But when you start looking closely at more specialized tasks, things have the potential to get tricky. For example, the Vivobook S 15's aforementioned 16:9 resolution OLED screen seems perfect for editing video. While the integrated Qualcomm Adreno GPU is up to the task, its interaction with different apps and their performance in Windows (via Prism) is still a work in progress.  Kyle Kucharski/ZDNETDuring my testing, I ran DaVinci Resolve for Windows on ARM, and it worked mostly fine, but the performance is still not 100% optimized. There was some lag, graphic stuttering, and quirkiness, especially with 4K video. Adobe Photoshop, however, ran smoothly, with local AI-generative tasks popping off seamlessly with help from the NPU on board the Snapdragon. I expect performance to continue improving as Windows improves and developers improve their products for the platform.The other elephant in the room is gaming, which is not entirely up to speed with Windows on ARM. Yes, technically, you can game on this laptop, but many titles still don't run, and the ones that do are not well-optimized. Although the Vivobook S 15 looks like something you might want to game on, I wouldn't recommend it as a dedicated gaming laptop. At least not yet. Also: The best Windows laptops you can buy: Expert testedInstead, I see the Vivobook S 15 as a primary driver for remote workers or digital nomads who are already integrating AI into their workflows and appreciate an aesthetic laptop with a brilliant display that handles media well. Supporting that use case, it has a generous selection of ports: two USB-A ports on the right-hand side, two USB-C on the left, an HDMI port, a MicroSD slot, and a headphone jack. It also has a "full" keyboard (the number pad on the right side has slightly smaller keys, as typical for sub-16-inch machines), which is satisfying and responsive to typing on. The keyboard has colorful LED backlighting that can be configured in many different lights and effects. Still, again, this is not something that I would consider high on the priority list when optimizing battery life.  ZDNET's buying adviceThe Asus Vivobook S 15 is a sleek and lightweight laptop with a gorgeous OLED display and solid battery life -- as long as you're mindful of your power usage. I'd recommend it to forward-thinking digital nomads who want a performant, AI-ready laptop with a blazing-fast Snapdragon X Elite processor. It's a solid investment for people who regularly swap between creative work, productivity software, and media. All things considered, the sale price of $713 is very competitive for this laptop, particularly for the display alone. Featured reviews

Just because you’re capable doesn’t mean you’re responsible for everything caregiving. getty If you’re in your 40s or 50s, chances are you’re already there. No one hands you a membership card, and there’s no official onboarding session. But one day, you’re helping your mom move into assisted living, booking your kid’s dental appointment, managing your partner’s latest depressive episode — and wondering when the last time someone asked how you were doing. Welcome to the sandwich generation: the invisible middle, where caregivers hold together three generations of care. You are not alone, even though you may feel it. Roughly 23% of U.S. adults are part of this generation, supporting an aging parent while also raising a child. But that’s not the entire picture. In reality, caregiving has become multidirectional. It’s not just parents and kids anymore. It’s also spouses. Partners. Sometimes, siblings or close friends. The trifecta of care is becoming the norm — and the toll is enormous. Most sandwich-generation caregivers are between ages 40 and 59. That happens to coincide with the phase of life when many people first confront serious health issues themselves — hypertension, autoimmune diseases, breast or prostate cancer, anxiety and depression. And yet, they often put their own well-being last. Everyone Needs A Solid Healthcare Foundation — Not Just The Person In Crisis When a father receives a serious diagnosis, attention naturally centers on him. But who’s checking on Mom? Does she have a primary care provider? How’s her mental health holding up under the strain? The caregiving spotlight often shines on one individual, leaving others in the dark, unsupported and at risk. Are caregivers skipping their own checkups because they’re too busy managing someone else’s? Are they ignoring warning signs in their partners because they have no bandwidth left? The result? Delayed diagnoses, unmanaged conditions and a growing silent crisis in caregiver health. Women often carry the heaviest burden. According to AARP, more than 60% of caregivers in the U.S. are female, and women in their 40s and 50s are not only more likely to be primary caregivers, they’re also more likely to suffer from the physical and emotional toll of it. During this same window of life, many women are also navigating perimenopause and menopause, a complex and under-supported health transition that can affect mood, energy, sleep and more. In my work as a healthcare advisor, I see this pattern every day. High-functioning adults, juggling demanding careers and family logistics, suddenly become caregivers without even realizing it. One week, it’s helping their mom manage a new heart medication. Then, it’s researching skilled nursing facilities. Then, it's locating and coordinating a college psychiatrist across state lines for a child away at school. Meanwhile, their spouse is quietly battling substance use. And still, they never miss a Zoom call. Families fall apart this way — not because people don’t care, but because there’s too much care to manage alone. This isn’t a lack of love. It’s a lack of infrastructure. The reality is caregiving is not a side gig. It’s a job. One that you never applied for. And it’s one of the most demanding jobs — especially when it’s invisible and unpaid. According to a 2023 New York Life Wealth Watch survey, nearly half of sandwich-generation adults say caregiving expenses have prevented them from meeting essential household costs in the past year. That doesn’t account for the emotional cost or the time pulled away from work, sleep or health. According to a recent McKinsey Health Institute report, women live longer than men, but they spend 25% more of that time in poor health.Even for high-net-worth individuals, the challenge persists. Even when finances aren’t an issue, the time pressure from caregiving can be relentless and overwhelming. The existence of resources doesn’t guarantee the existence of a plan. Why Caregiving Transitions Are The Breaking Point Transitions are often where this balancing act collapses. Your mom is moving to Florida. Who is her new doctor? Who will manage her care if she ends up in the ER? Your child moves away for college — can their psychiatrist still see them across state lines? If not, who picks up the thread? And how will they know what the last provider did? Your spouse finally agrees to go to rehabilitation for an addiction — who manages everything else while you're coordinating care? These moments often happen all at once. Your mother enters assisted living the same month your son leaves for college. At the same time, you’re Googling “how to find a good oncologist” or “what is palliative care.” Suddenly, you're making decisions you never trained for — navigating insurance, hiring a home health aide and interpreting medical jargon in a matter of days. Families don’t realize how fragile the infrastructure of care is until it breaks under pressure. And when it breaks, the consequences are personal. It’s not just a failure of logistics. We don’t talk about spousal caregiving nearly enough. It’s hard to admit when a partner needs help. There’s stigma, privacy, pride. But when that support becomes unsustainable, the impact ripples outward. It affects children, work, finances and — most critically — you, the caregiver. So, how do you spot the signs of strain? They’re usually subtle at first: ● Fatigue or changes in sleep ● Mood swings, anxiety or irritability ● Neglecting personal health ● Withdrawal from friends or support systems ● Feelings of hopelessness or resentment ● Escalating use of alcohol or medication Many caregivers normalize these. They say, “It’s just a busy season.” But seasons aren’t supposed to last years. There’s A Smarter Way To Carry The Load For Caregivers There are ways to make this more manageable. Not easy, but better. Start early. Don’t wait for a crisis. Put a plan in place before one is needed. That includes medical contacts, financial documents, emergency protocols and backup care options. While your parents are still healthy, talk to them about their wishes should they need additional care, go with them to visit retirement communities and work with them to make arrangements while they’re still able to be involved. Don’t do it all yourself. Lean on siblings, hire support and delegate when you can. Just because you’re capable doesn’t mean you’re responsible for everything. Talk about transitions before they happen. If a parent is moving states, get their medical records transferred. If a child is going away to school, coordinate with mental health providers in advance. Build continuity into the plan. Set boundaries — financial, emotional and time — because not every crisis is yours to solve. Learn to say no — or not right now. And when the time comes to bring in outside help, finding the right caregiver can make all the difference. A strong caregiver isn’t just kind — they’re competent, communicative and clinically aware. They need to fit your loved one’s medical and emotional needs but also mesh with the broader care team. This isn’t a role to fill in a panic — it’s one to plan for with the same care you’d give to hiring a financial advisor or attorney. The right caregiver doesn’t just protect the patient — they give the entire family a chance to breathe.

In brief: The Defense Department, which manages an $850 billion annual budget and employs two million people, is the largest federal agency – and it has long faced scrutiny over wasteful spending and dark budgets. A new reallocation plan seeks to reduce dependence on outside contractors and shift resources toward in-house operations. United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has cut $5.1 billion in defense contracts for consulting and nonessential services. The move targets redundant agreements, with plans to shift much of the work to in-house personnel. The cuts include a range of consulting deals with major firms like Accenture, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Deloitte, which have been providing services to the Defense Health Agency. Hegseth noted in a video posted to X that these terminations alone will save $1.8 billion. Other notable reductions include a $500 million US Navy contract for business process consulting and a $1.4 billion cloud software reseller agreement. Hegseth also cut a $500 million DARPA contract for IT help-desk services, calling it "completely duplicative." Additional terminations target contracts supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, climate initiatives, and coronavirus response efforts – areas Hegseth described as peripheral to core defense operations. In an internal Pentagon memo, Hegseth said the Defense Department's civilian workforce could take over many consulting services currently outsourced to third-party firms. For example, he identified the Air Force's contract with Accenture to resell enterprise cloud IT services as a need that existing government procurement resources could directly fulfill. In addition to terminating contracts, Hegseth directed the Pentagon's chief information officer to work with Musk's task force over the next 30 days on a plan to insource IT consulting and management services across the department. The memo also called for negotiating more favorable rates on cloud computing. The Defense Department is redirecting the funds saved from contract terminations to enhance military readiness, advance cutting-edge technologies, and strengthen national security infrastructure. Key areas receiving increased funding include missile defense systems, hypersonic weapons, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity. // Related Stories

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for! A bite-sized version of the New York Times’ well-known crossword puzzle, The Mini is a quick and easy way to test your crossword skills daily in a lot less time (the average puzzle takes most players just over a minute to solve). While The Mini is smaller and simpler than a normal crossword, it isn’t always easy. Tripping up on one clue can be the difference between a personal best completion time and an embarrassing solve attempt. Recommended Videos Just like our Wordle hints and Connections hints, we’re here to help with The Mini today if you’re stuck and need a little help. Related Below are the answers for the NYT Mini crossword today. New York Times Across State sch. founded by Thomas Jefferson – UVA Flower containers – POTS “Crib” or “pad,” for “house” – SLANG Pants, informally – TROU Company nicknamed “Big Blue” – IBM Down Company nicknamed “Big Brown” – UPS What “V” stands for on a battery – VOLT Big name in 1980s arcade games – ATARI Stuck-up sort – SNOB Big Red, e.g. – GUM Editors’ Recommendations

James Austin Johnson returned as President Donald Trump. NBC 2025-04-13T12:38:39Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? The latest episode of "SNL" saw Trump world meet "The White Lotus." James Austin Johnson returned as Trump, parodying Jason Isaac's beleaguered financier from the HBO show. The spoof seems to have been a hit with fans, with many calling it the shows funniest skit in some time. "Saturday Night Live" continued to roast key White House figures in this weekend's episode, which saw President Donald Trump and his inner circle checking in to the "The White Lotus."Retitled "The White POTUS," James Austin Johnson returned as the US president, parodying Jason Isaac's beleaguered financier from the HBO show.In the wake of the real president's tariff announcements — which have sparked chaos in global financial markets — Johnson's caricature of Trump is seen numbing his pain with a prescription bottle of chicken nuggets and threatening to shoot Uncle Sam himself (Andrew Dismukes).As Johnson's Trump fights an existential crisis at the breakfast table (Chloe Fineman), playing his wife Melania but embodying Parker Posey's iconic character from the show, asks: "Can you imagine how awful it would if America lost all its money and no one respected us anymore?""You would never let our economy go to pieces, right, hon?" she continues, as Johnson's Trump's phone pings with a news flash about a tariffs-induced recession.The pre-taped sketch also saw Mikey Day play Trump Jr., Alex Moffat as Eric Trump, and Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump. Scarlett Johansson as Ivanka Trump in the "White POTUS" sketch. NBC In line with her "White Lotus" counterpart, Johansson's Ivanka is seen seeking spiritual enlightenment, only to change her mind when she's told: "You must ask yourself: 'Am I ready to give up greed and material possessions in order to lead an honest and ethical life?'"Elsewhere, Beck Bennett returned as a shirtless Russian President Vladimir Putin, Kenan Thompson appeared as Tiger Woods, and the episode's celebrity host Jon Hamm portrayed RFK Jr.The star-studded lineup also featured a brief appearance from musical guest Lizzo, who played a disgruntled American who realized their savings had tanked."Oh, my God, there's $5 million in my bank account," she said. "It was 20 million last week."The skit seems to have been a hit with fans, with some on social media lauding it as one of the best sketches the show has done in some time."'The White Potus' is the most brilliant and well-done satire SNL has done this century," one X user wrote."Gonna need at least 10 seasons of this," another said."The White Potus is the funniest thing Saturday Night Live has done in years," a third added.Earlier in the episode, Johnson's Trump was also the focus of an Easter-themed cold open, which began by dramatizing the bible story of Jesus (played by Mikey Day) casting moneylenders out of the temple on his arrival in Jerusalem."Remind you of anyone?" Johnson's Trump said, interrupting the sequence. "I also got rid of money last week, but instead of one temple, I did a whole country. Maybe even the globe. The money's gone.""Hi, it's me, your favorite president, Donald Jesus Trump, comparing myself to the son of God once again," he continued. "Many people are even calling me the Messiah because of the mess I, uh, made out of the economy, all because of my beautiful tariffs." Recommended video

In a podcast landscape dominated by the manosphere, one of the biggest podcasts targeted to women sounds like it could be a children’s television show. Giggly Squad is hosted by two best friends, fashion influencer Paige DeSorbo and comedian Hannah Berner, who first rose to fame via the Bravo reality show Summer House. In 2020, the pair began doing weekly Instagram Lives and eventually launched the podcast. Since then, Giggly Squad has become one of the top-ranking shows on Apple Podcasts, with 44 million downloads last year. DeSorbo and Berner just wrapped up a sold-out national tour and are now releasing their first book How to Giggle: A Guide to Taking Life Less Seriously; promotion for the book recently included a guest appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. In several ways, Giggly Squad feels like an obvious daughter of Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy. The show largely appeals to Gen Z white women. (Their fan base calls themselves the “Gigglers.”) It also has a similar conceit to the first iteration of Cooper’s pod: Two girlfriends having honest, sometimes frivolous, conversations about dating, sex, mental health, and other aspects of their lives. It resembles a casual text chain between two best friends. In a recent episode, DeSorbo updated listeners about her UTI while Berner joked about an intense bout of PMS. “I like to let the Gigglers know where we are in our cycles,” Berner said. Intimacy and kinship between hosts has become an expected feature of women-led podcasting nowadays, the best friend chat its own genre. It makes the audience, too, feel like one of the gang.“It really just feels like you’re FaceTiming your best friends,” says Alexa Toback, a self-proclaimed Giggler. “You get a relationship that’s so close to them. It’s like a conversation you’re having with your friends every week.” The affinity fans feel speaks not only to the increasingly parasocial role that podcasts have taken in our lives post-pandemic, but the way female friendship has become a commercial enterprise. How podcasts became our new BFFsCasual gabfests between women aren’t a new invention in the podcasting space. Some of the best examples have been organic endeavors by friends seeking a public outlet to discuss their personal lives and interests. A popular product of the early podcast boom was the Call Your Girlfriend podcast, hosted by Ann Friedman and Aminatou Sow. The two long-distance friends would catch each other up on their lives, while having insightful and informative conversations about culture, politics, and gender. My Favorite Murder, hosted by comedians Georgia Hardstark and Karen Kilgariff, saw two pals bonding over their interest in true-crime stories. The BuzzFeed-then-Slate podcast Thirst Aid Kit saw hosts Bim Adewunmi and Nichole Perkins verbally salivating over their latest celebrity crushes. These older examples are a bit more produced and polished than the off-the-cuff, hyperpersonal vibe of Giggly Squad. However, podcasts like DeSorbo and Berner’s feel like a natural progression of this setup. This “group chat” phenomenon has proliferated the podcasting world recently, with shows like Lemme Say This, hosted by college best friends Hunter Harris and Peyton Dix, and The Ringer’s Jam Session, hosted by work pals Amanda Dobbins and Juliet Litman. The genre’s growth is particularly visible on social media. TikTok and Instagram Reels are rife with clips of two women sitting in a pink or beige studio and, in TikTok terms, having a yap about seemingly inconsequential matters. Naturally, this chummy dynamic is also found in popular podcasts hosted by sisters, what you might consider a subgenre of the best friend pod. There’s the pop culture show The Toast, hosted by controversial sibling duo Jackie and Claudia Oshry, that has managed to become a mainstream hit. Olympic rugby player Ilona Maher’s newly launched podcast, House of Maher, featuring her sisters Adrianna and Olivia, is described as an audio version of their sibling group chat. It’s already performing well on the Apple Podcasts charts. The hit Netflix series Nobody Wants This brought new attention to The World’s First Podcast, hosted by the show’s creator Erin Foster and her sister Sara. The Netflix show portrayed a fictional version of the podcast, with Kristen Bell standing in for Foster.Kristen Bell and Justine Lupe in the Netflix series Nobody Wants This. Netflix“Does this format feel more abundant in the culture?” says Vulture’s podcast critic Nicholas Quah. “The answer is yes, and that’s tied to the fact that podcasting has become normalized. It’s become part of everybody’s media diet.” Quah adds that these loosely structured, largely unscripted podcasts are everywhere because they’re simple to make: “The economic structure of podcasting is to privilege shows like these that are very cheap, easy to record, and efficient.” The barrier for entry is low — they don’t require journalistic skills or expertise on a certain subject. Instead, the prerequisite is friend chemistry and a sense of relatability. Over time, listeners gain knowledge of the hosts’ history with one another, interests, pet peeves, and other minutiae. By listening to Lemme Say This, for example, audiences get to know about Harris and Dix’s core college memories, past relationships, and parental quirks. While “podcast bros” aim for self-improvement, podcast girlies are embracing gossip and mess The parasocial effect that comes from watching women relate to each other may feel particularly familiar to fans of reality shows — another extremely character-driven format that gives audiences an unnatural amount of personal knowledge about people they’ve never met. Perhaps it’s not surprising then that podcasts like Giggly Squad have become a natural extension of branding for reality stars themselves. You can expect almost every Real Housewife nowadays, including notable duos, to launch their own podcasts based on their already-established personalities and friend dynamics. These podcasts inevitably start to mimic reality TV, in providing both mindless entertainment and a deeply engaging connection to the talent. By design, the hosts create their own share of extracurricular gossip for listeners to converse about. When Litman announced her pregnancy on Jam Session a few weeks ago, fans ran to the NYCInfluenerSnark subreddit to share their excitement and curiosity about the news and also mused about what the show would look like when she took maternity leave. When DeSorbo disclosed on Giggly Squad that she was having panic attacks, fans on Reddit immediately tried to investigate the cause. Giggly Squad has the added benefit — and pressure — of the friends’ very public off-air personas; the show is a place where they can discuss the news moments created outside of the podcast too. When tabloids reported that DeSorbo had split from her partner of three years, Southern Charm star Craig Conover, last December, fans knew they could tune into Giggly Squad for the inside scoop. The same feedback loop occurred last month when Berner received backlash for comments she made during an interview with Megan Thee Stallion at the Vanity Fair Oscars party. Listeners anticipated the next episode, where Berner addressed the viral incident. Quah says that “embracing a sense of mess and scandal” has become central to how younger women are building their brands through podcasts. The way these shows embrace gossip and intimate conversation can easily be written off as a cheap tactic for attracting listeners. However, it’s not a coincidence that these podcasts have become, as Quah puts it, “sites of female empowerment,” forums for women to have the raw, unfiltered conversations where they feel heard and understood. It’s a notable distinction from the world of “podcast bros,” like Joe Rogan and Andrew Huberman, speaking to wonky self-help experts and promoting an individualist lifestyle of self-improvement. As shows like Giggly Squad continue to be made and their audiences continue to grow, these supposedly frivolous podcasts are occupying crucial space in women’s lives. They’re a stand-in friend, a subject to gossip about, and a much-needed space to feel understood. See More:

Summer is approaching and for those planning camping excursions or extended road trips, a reliable power source is something you can’t do without. Whether charging your devices out in the wilderness or maintaining your RV appliances in working condition, the EcoFlow Delta 2 portable power station is the ultimate must-have. Small, rugged and green, this power station (among the finest on the market today) keeps you plugged in and feeling good no matter where your summer travels take you. And at its current price of $449 on Amazon—which is a 36% discount from its usual $699 (almost matching the previous Black Friday’s price point)—there’s never been a better time to invest in this game-changing device. See at Amazon Powers Laptops, Phones, And More The EcoFlow Delta 2 is built to withstand everything you can throw at it: It’s got a 1024Wh capacity and a 1800W peak output, so it can power 90% of your devices without breaking a sweat. From powering lights and running portable fridges to charging laptops and phones, it delivers clean power without the noise and fumes of gas generators. This is ideal for camping trips where peacefulness and quiet are part of the deal. Through EcoFlow’s X-Stream technology, this premium power station can be charged fully from 0 to 80% in 50 minutes and fully charged within 80 minutes if it’s plugged into an ordinary AC socket. This means less time waiting for it to charge and more time on your outdoor adventures. If you’re off-grid, you can also pair it with solar panels (sold separately) for clean, green energy. With a maximum 500W solar input, the Delta 2 can be charged to capacity in as little as 6 hours in perfect conditions. Its LiFePO4 battery chemistry enables the Delta 2 to retain more than 3000 cycles of capacity before dipping to 80%—six times longer than the major part of its competitors—there is no fear of degradation with use over time. Its built-in Battery Management System also automatically regulates electricity flow to protect you and your devices. But probably the most important for you is that the Delta 2 features 15 output ports to handle almost any device. These include six AC outlets for large appliances, two USB-C ports with a maximum output of 100W, four USB-A ports (two regular and two fast-charge) and a few DC outputs such as a car charger port. From inflating an air mattress, running a projector for backyard movie nights, or just charging your phone, this power station has something for every situation. Last but not least: at just 27 pounds and with a built-in handle, the Delta 2 is easy to transport despite having a strong set of features. Its size makes it fit snugly in your car or RV without taking up much space. For campers and road-trippers looking to reduce their environmental footprint, the Delta 2 presents a greener option than traditional generators. At $449, this EcoFlow power station is an investment that will pay itself back multiple times over in the way of comfort and reliability. See at Amazon

Well, with all the news about Nintendo Switch 2 game prices, it looks like a lot of us are going to be playing our old favorites for a while. The good news: there’s actually a cheap way to make old games feel new. Windows 11 Pro can help make your games play smoother and look nicer, and it’s only $14.97 (reg. $199).  What does Windows 11 Pro do? Windows 11 Pro isn’t just some fancy upgrade for tech lovers. It actually makes your regular gaming sessions better without you even having to think about it. Auto HDR makes your games look prettier, even the old-school ones. And DirectStorage means games load super fast, so you spend less time staring at loading screens. If you’re the type to have your game running while you chat on Discord and browse the web, you’ll probably notice everything feels a bit snappier when you switch between them. Then there’s Windows Copilot, an AI helper built right in and using the same tech as OpenAI. It can help you find files faster, edit your system settings, or even give you the gist of a game guide while you’re playing.  Plus, Windows 11 Pro has some extra security and privacy tools like BitLocker encryption and virtualization. That’s good news if you’re downloading mods or trying out new game launchers. It helps keep things safe. It also works great if you have more than one monitor or a fancy high-refresh screen, and it’s ready for whatever new PC parts might come out down the line. April 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT is the cutoff to get Windows 11 Pro for life for $14.97. StackSocial prices subject to change.  Microsoft Windows 11 Pro – $14.97 See Deal